No conflict for labor leader as trustee

San Diego city schools Trustee Richard Barrera may continue to serve on the Board of Education and in his new position as head of an influential labor group and may vote on issues involving school district employee unions, a legal opinion issued by outside counsel concludes.

Board President John Lee Evans said it was recommended that Barrera recuse himself only on issues in which the Labor Council itself or a significant portion of its membership is advocating for a particular position.

“All of our current board members have full-time outside employment. The school board is a part-time position, which currently pays about $17,500 per year,” Evans wrote in a statement. He noted that all board members must file an annual disclosure statement revealing the source of other income, including occupations and investments.

The school board discussed the legal opinion in closed session Tuesday.

Barrera was named as the secretary-treasurer of the San Diego-Imperial Counties Labor Council to succeed Lorena Gonzalez after she won a state Assembly seat on May 21.

The San Diego Education Association, which represents district teachers, and California School Employees Association, which represents classified workers, both are members of the Labor Council, and each has a seat on the council’s executive board.

However, they collectively comprise less than 5 percent of the council. Because the SDEA and CSEA do not “individually wield substantial voting power” to take action against Barrera in response to any decision he might make as a trustee, attorney Mark Bresee said it was his opinion that Barrera did not have a financial interest in decisions related to the unions.

Bresee’s written analysis said that decisions posing the “greatest risk” for Barrera are those that may involve members of the Executive Board of the Labor Council, such as trade unions that are party to the project labor agreement that unions signed with the district in 2009. The Project Stabilization Agreement sets local hiring goals for work done under the district’s $2.1 billion construction bond measure.

Bresee said there was a risk that a court could find the member unions are “alter egos” of the Labor Council and would provide a conflict. The attorney recommended that Barrera consider recusing himself from decisions involving trade union parties to the PSA and that he “exercise caution” to ensure his decisions about SDEA or CSEA are not compromised because of his service on the Labor Council.

Barrera’s employment contract, which is being finalized, calls for a set salary and will not have any incentives built in that are related to particular actions, goals or outcomes, according to the analysis. Barrera has not disclosed his salary.

“It is no secret that Mr. Barrera is a champion of organized labor and the rights of workers, and that he was a champion long before he became a candidate for the board let alone employed by the Labor Council,” Bresee wrote. “There is therefore no reason to believe he will analyze labor-related issues and decisions as a trustee any differently now than he has in the past.”

Barrera said he doesn’t foresee any issues coming up that would involve a large percentage of union members or one that would have the Labor Council taking a position before the board.

“If that issue did come up, I’d ask for legal advice from counsel and would be prepared to recuse myself,” he said. He also said he did not anticipate that the school board would be voting on any issue pertaining to the Project Stabilization Agreement during his term.